Family and personal life

Ancestry

Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt, Palatinate, on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides isles of Scotland on his mother's side. All his grandparents, and his mother, were born in Europe. His mother's grandfather was also christened "Donald".[1]

Trump's paternal grandfather, Friedrich Trump (later Frederick), first emigrated to the United States in 1885 at the age of 16, and became a citizen in 1892. He amassed a fortune operating boom-town restaurants and boarding houses in the Seattle area and the Klondike region of Canada, during the gold rush.[2] On a visit to Kallstadt, he met Elisabeth Christ and married her in 1902. The couple settled in New York permanently in 1905.[3] Frederick died from influenza during the 1918 pandemic.[4]

Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in the Bronx, and started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death. Their company, Elizabeth Trump and Son, was primarily active in the New York boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Fred eventually built and sold thousands of houses, barracks and apartments.[4][5] The company would later become The Trump Organization after Donald Trump took over in 1971.[6]

Donald's mother Mary Anne was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she emigrated to New York where she worked as a maid.[7] Fred and Mary were married in 1936 and raised their family in Queens.[7][8]

Fred's brother John (Donald's uncle) became a physicist and inventor.[9]

Early life and education

Donald Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at the Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, Queens, New York City. He was the fourth of five children born to Frederick Christ "Fred" Trump (1905–1999) and Mary Anne Trump (née MacLeod, 1912–2000).[12] His siblings are Maryanne (born 1937), Fred Jr. (1938–1981), Elizabeth (born 1942), and Robert (born 1948).

Trump was not drafted during the Vietnam War.[21] While in college from 1964 to 1968, he obtained four student deferments.[22] In 1966, he was deemed fit for service based upon a military medical examination, and in 1968 was briefly classified as fit by a local draft board, but was given a 1-Y medical deferment in October 1968,[23] attributed to heel spurs.[24] In 1969, he received a high number in the draft lottery, which made him unlikely to be called.[23][25][26]

In October 1993, Maples gave birth to Trump's daughter Tiffany, named after Tiffany & Company.[34] Maples and Trump were married two months later on December 20, 1993.[35] They were divorced in 1999,[36] and Tiffany was raised by her mother in California.[37]

Prior to his inauguration as president, Trump delegated the management of his real estate business to his two adult sons, Eric and Don Jr.[42] His daughter Ivanka resigned from The Trump Organization and moved to Washington with her husband Jared Kushner. She serves as assistant to the president,[43] while he is a Senior Advisor in the White House.[44]

Trump participates in Holy Communion, but has said that he does not ask God for forgiveness. He stated: "I think if I do something wrong, I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture."[53] On the campaign trail, Trump has referred to The Art of the Deal as his second favorite book after the Bible, saying "Nothing beats the Bible."[54] In a 2016 speech to Liberty University, he referred to "Two Corinthians" instead of "Second Corinthians", eliciting chuckles from the audience.[55] Despite this, The New York Times reported that Evangelical Christians nationwide thought "that his heart was in the right place, that his intentions for the country were pure."[56]

Wealth

Trump has said that he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father.[66] Trump appeared on the initial Forbes List of wealthy individuals in 1982 with an estimated $200 million fortune, including an "undefined" share of the fortune belonging to his family and father.[67] During the 1980s he became a billionaire,[68] but was absent from the Forbes list from 1990 to 1995 following losses which reportedly obliged him to borrow from his siblings' trusts in 1993.[67] After his father died in 1999, he and his surviving siblings received shares of his father's estate which was valued at more than $20 million.[69][70]

When he announced his candidacy on June 16, 2015, Trump released a one-page financial summary that stated a net worth of $8,737,540,000.[72] The following month, he filed a 92-page disclosure and put his wealth at over $10 billion.[73][74] His presidential announcement speech mentioned that "I'm really rich", which he said would make him less reliant upon large campaign donations.[75][76]Forbes believed his net worth estimate was "a whopper", figuring it was $4.1 billion in 2015 (405th in the world, 133rd in the U.S.). Trump valued his "properties under development" at $293 million; Forbes said that it did not know what they were worth and so was valuing them as worth $0.[77][78] Trump had stated in the long 2015 financial disclosure that his income for the year 2014 was $362 million.[74]

After Trump made controversial remarks about illegal immigrants in 2015, he lost business contracts with several companies that summer, which Forbes estimated negatively impacted his net worth by $125 million.[79] The value of the Trump brand may have fallen further during his presidential campaign, as some consumers boycotted in response to his candidacy.[80] Bookings and foot traffic at Trump-branded properties fell off sharply in 2016,[81][82] though Trump's 104-page financial disclosure in May 2016 still put his wealth at over $10 billion as he had done the previous July.[73][83][74] The release of the Access Hollywood tape recordings in October 2016 put further pressure on his business.[84]

In their 2017 annual billionaires' ranking, Forbes estimated Trump's net worth at $3.5 billion (544th in the world, 201st in the U.S.)[85] making him one of the richest politicians in American history. These estimates have fluctuated from year to year, and also depending upon who is doing the estimations; Bloomberg News pegged his wealth at $3 billion in 2016,[86] whereas Forbes said $4.5 billion that same year (324th in the world, 113th in the U.S.).[87] The discrepancies among these estimates and with Trump's own estimates stem from the uncertain value of appraised property and of his personal brand.[86][88]

Business career

Real estate

Trump started his career at his father's real estate development company, Elizabeth Trump and Son, which focused on middle-class rental housing in the New York City boroughs outside Manhattan, but also had business elsewhere.[89] For example, during his undergraduate study, Trump joined his father Fred in successfully revitalizing the foreclosed Swifton Village apartment complex in Cincinnati, Ohio, thereby boosting the occupancy rate from 66% to 100%.[90][91]

Trump was promoted to president of the company in 1971 (while his father became chairman of the board), and renamed it The Trump Organization.[6][92] In 1973, he and his father drew wider attention when the Justice Department contended that the organization systematically discriminated against African Americans wishing to rent apartments, rather than merely screening out people based on low income, as the Trumps stated. Under an agreement reached in 1975, the Trumps made no admission of wrongdoing, and made the Urban League an intermediary for qualified minority applicants.[93][94] His adviser and attorney during (and after) that period was Roy Cohn, who responded to attacks by counterattacking with maximum force, and who valued both positive and negative publicity, which were attitudes that Trump appreciated.[95]

Manhattan developments

In 1978, Trump consummated his first major real estate deal in Manhattan, purchasing a half-share in the decrepit Commodore Hotel, largely funded by a $70 million construction loan jointly guaranteed by Fred Trump and the Hyatt hotel chain. Designed by architect Der Scutt, the project was able to proceed by leveraging competing interests and by taking advantage of tax breaks.[96] After remodeling, the hotel reopened as the Grand Hyatt Hotel, located next to Grand Central Terminal.[97][98]

Also in 1978, Trump finished negotiations to develop Trump Tower, a 58-story, 202-meter (663-foot) skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, which The New York Times attributed to his "persistence" and "skills as a negotiator".[99] To make way for the new building, a crew of undocumented Polish workers demolished an old Bonwit Teller store including art deco features that had initially been marked for preservation.[100] The building was completed in 1983, and houses both the primary penthousecondominium residence of Trump and the headquarters of The Trump Organization.[101][102] Architectural critic Paul Goldberger said in 1983 that he was surprised to find the tower's atrium was "the most pleasant interior public space to be completed in New York in some years".[103][104] Trump Tower was the setting of the NBC television show The Apprentice, and includes a fully functional television studio set.[105]

Repairs on the Wollman Rink (originally opened in 1949 in Central Park) were started in 1980 by a general contractor unconnected to Trump. Despite an expected two and one-half year construction schedule, the repairs were not completed by 1986. Trump took over the project, completed it in three months for $775,000 less than the initial budget of $1.95 million, and operated the rink for one year with all profits going to charity in exchange for the rink's concession rights.[106]

In 1988 Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan for a record-setting $407 million, and asked his wife Ivana to manage its operation.[107] Trump invested $50 million to restore the building, which he called "the Mona Lisa".[108] According to hotel expert Thomas McConnell, the Trumps boosted it from a three-star to a four-star ranking, and sold it in 1995, by which time Ivana was no longer involved.[109]

In 1994, Trump became involved with a building on Columbus Circle which was swaying in the wind. He began a reconstruction project that stopped the swaying and gave the building a full makeover.[110][111] Trump thereafter owned commercial space in that 44-story mixed-use tower (hotel and condominium), which he named Trump International Hotel and Tower.[112]

In 1997, he began construction on Trump Place, a multi-building development along the Hudson River, and encountered delays the following year because a subcontracter had to replace defective concrete.[114][115] Ultimately, he and the other investors in that project sold their interest in 2005 for $1.8 Billion, in what was then the biggest residential sale in the history of New York City.[116]

From 1994 to 2002, Trump owned a 50% share of the Empire State Building. He would have renamed it to "Trump Empire State Building Tower Apartments" if he had been able to boost his share.[117][118]

Palm Beach estate

The Trumps with Chinese President Xi Jinping and wife at Mar-a-Lago in 2017

Trump acquired the historic Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida in 1985 for $5 million, plus $3 million for the home's furnishings. It was built in the 1920s by heiress and socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post, who envisioned the house as a future winter retreat for American presidents.

Trump's initial offer of $28 million had been rejected, and he was able to get the property at the much lower price by purchasing separate beachfront property and threatening to build a house on it that would block Mar-a-Lago's ocean view. In addition to using the estate as a home, Trump also turned it into a private club open to everyone who could afford the initiation fee of $100,000 plus annual dues.[122]

In 1986, he acquired a foreclosed, 33-story, twin-tower condominium complex in nearby West Palm Beach for $40 million, with automobile manufacturing executive Lee Iacocca investing in three of the condos.[123] Despite sprucing up its public areas, and years of heavy promotion, selling the units proved difficult, and the deal turned out to be unprofitable.[124]

Atlantic City casinos

New Jersey legalized gambling in 1977, and the following year Trump was in Atlantic City, New Jersey to explore how he might get involved. Seven years later, Harrah's at Trump Plaza hotel and casino opened there, built by Trump with financing from Holiday Corporation which also was managing that business.[125] Renamed "Trump Plaza" soon after opening, it was then the tallest building in Atlantic City.[126] The casino's poor results exacerbated disagreements between Trump and Holiday Corp., which led to Trump paying $70 million in May 1986 to buy out their interest in the property.[127][128] Trump also acquired a partially completed building in Atlantic City from the Hilton Corporation for $320 million; when completed in 1985, that hotel and casino became Trump Castle, and Trump's wife, Ivana, managed that property until Trump transferred her in 1988 to run the Trump Plaza Hotel in New York.[129][130]

Also in 1988, Trump acquired his third casino in Atlantic City, the Taj Mahal then halfway through construction, by making a complex transaction with the television host and entertainer Merv Griffin as well as the resort and casino company Resorts International.[131] In October 1989, three of his top Atlantic City executives died in a helicopter accident, which both stymied and delayed the planned opening of the Taj Mahal.[132] The Taj finally opened in April 1990, and was built at a total cost of $1.1 billion, which at the time made it the most expensive casino ever.[133][134] Financed with $675 million in junk bonds,[135] it was a major gamble by Trump.[136] The project underwent debt restructuring the following year,[137] leaving Trump with 50% ownership.[138] He also sold his 282-foot (86 m) megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been indefinitely docked in Atlantic City while leased to his casinos for use by wealthy gamblers.[139][140]

Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR) in 1995, which assumed ownership of Trump Plaza, Trump Castle, and the Trump Casino in Gary, Indiana.[141] THCR purchased Taj Mahal in 1996, and underwent bankruptcy restructuring in 2004 and 2009, leaving Trump with 10% ownership in the Trump Taj Mahal and other Trump casino properties.[142] He served as chairman of the publicly-traded THCR organization, which was renamed Trump Entertainment Resorts, from mid-1995 until early 2009, and served as CEO from mid-2000 to mid-2005.[143]

Golf courses

The Trump Organization operates many golf courses and resorts in the United States and around the world. According to Golfweek, Trump owns or manages about 18 golf courses.[147] His personal financial disclosure with the Federal Elections Commission stated that his golf and resort revenue for the year 2015 was roughly $382 million,[73][83] while his three European golf courses did not show a profit.[86]

In 2006, Trump bought 1,400 acres (570 ha) including the Menie Estate in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland and created a golf resort there.[148] Scottish supporters emphasized potential economic benefits, and opponents emphasized potential environmental harm to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).[149][150][151] A spokesperson for the golf course has said 95% of the SSSI is untouched.[152] A 2011 independent documentary, You've Been Trumped, chronicled the golf resort's construction and struggles.[153] In 2015, an offshore windfarm being built within sight of the golf course prompted a legal challenge by Trump, which was dismissed by the U.K. Supreme Court.[154] In the wake of the 2008 recession, Trump greatly scaled back development of this property, and as of December 2016 Scottish officials were pushing for completion of the far larger development as originally approved.[155]

In April 2014, Trump purchased the Turnberry hotel and golf resort in Ayrshire, Scotland, which hosted the Open Championship four times between 1977 and 2009.[156][157] After extensive renovations and a remodeling of the course by golf architect Martin Ebert, Turnberry was re-opened in June 2016.[158]

Branding and licensing

Trump has marketed his name on a large number of building projects that are owned and operated by other people and companies, as well as licensing his name for various commercial products and services. In doing so, he achieved mixed success for himself, his partners, and investors in the projects.[160] In 2011, Forbes' financial experts estimated the value of the Trump brand at $200 million. Trump disputed this valuation, saying his brand was worth about $3 billion.[161]

Legal affairs and bankruptcies

As of 2016, Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 3,500 state and federal legal actions. He or one of his companies was the plaintiff in 1,900 cases and the defendant in 1,450. With Trump or his company as plaintiff, more than half the cases have been against gamblers at his casinos who had failed to pay off their debts. With Trump or his company as a defendant, the most common type of case involved personal injury cases at his hotels. In cases where there was a clear resolution, Trump's side won 451 times and lost 38.[162][163]

Trump has never filed for personal bankruptcy, but his hotel and casino businesses have been declared bankrupt six times between 1991 and 2009 in order to re-negotiate debt with banks and owners of stock and bonds.[164][165] Because the businesses used Chapter 11 bankruptcy, they were allowed to operate while negotiations proceeded. Trump was quoted by Newsweek in 2011 saying, "I do play with the bankruptcy laws – they're very good for me" as a tool for trimming debt.[166][167]

A 2016 analysis of Trump's business career by The Economist concluded that his "... performance [from 1985 to 2016] has been mediocre compared with the stock market and property in New York", noting both his successes and bankruptcies.[170] A subsequent analysis by The Washington Post concluded that "Trump is a mix of braggadocio, business failures, and real success", calling his casino bankruptcies the "most infamous flop" of his business career.[171]

Side ventures

After Trump took charge of the family real estate firm in 1971 and renamed it The Trump Organization, he not only greatly expanded its real estate operations, but also ventured into numerous other business activities. The company eventually became the umbrella organization for several hundred individual business ventures and partnerships.[172]

Miss Universe

From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned part or all of the Miss Universe pageants, which were founded in 1952.[176][177] The Miss Universe Pageants include Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, and his management of this business involved his family members; for example, daughter Ivanka once hosted Miss Teen USA. Trump hired the first female president of the Miss Universe business in 1997.[178] He became dissatisfied with how CBS scheduled the pageants, and took both Miss Universe and Miss USA to NBC in 2002.[179][180]

In 2015, after Trump made statements about illegal immigrants from Mexico in his U.S. presidential campaign kickoff speech, NBC decided to end its business relationship with him and stated that it would no longer air the Miss Universe or Miss USA pageants on its networks.[181] In September 2015, Trump bought NBC's share of the Miss Universe Organization, becoming its sole owner for three days, then sold the entire company to the WME/IMG talent agency.[182]

Trump University

Trump University LLC was a for-profit education company founded by Trump and his associates, Michael Sexton and Jonathan Spitalny, that ran a real estate training program, charging between $1,500 and $35,000 per course.[183][184][185] In 2005 the operation was notified by New York State authorities that its use of the word "university" was misleading and violated state law. After a second such notification in 2010, the name of the company was changed to the "Trump Entrepreneurial Institute".[186] Trump was also found personally liable for failing to obtain a business license for the operation.[187]

In 2013, the State of New York filed a $40 million civil suit alleging that Trump University made false statements and defrauded consumers.[186][188] In addition, two class-action civil lawsuits were filed in federal court relating to Trump University; they named Trump personally as well as his companies.[189] During the presidential campaign, Trump criticized Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel who oversaw those two cases, alleging bias in his rulings because of his Mexican heritage.[190][191] Shortly after Trump won the presidency, the parties agreed to a settlement of all three pending cases, whereby Trump paid a total of $25 million and denied any wrongdoing.[192][193]

In 2016, investigations by The Washington Post uncovered several potential legal and ethical violations conducted by the charity, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion.[202] After beginning an investigation into the foundation, the New York State Attorney General's office notified the Trump Foundation that it was allegedly in violation of New York laws regarding charities, and ordered it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York.[203][204][205] A Trump spokesman called the investigation a "partisan hit job".[203] In response to mounting complaints, Trump's team announced in late December 2016 that the Trump Foundation would be dissolved to remove "even the appearance of any conflict with [his] role as President."[206]

Resignation

When Trump was elected president in November 2016, questions arose over how he would avoid conflicts of interest between his work in the White House and his business activities. At a press conference on January 10, 2017, Trump said that he and his daughter Ivanka would resign all roles with The Trump Organization, while his two adult sons Don Jr. and Eric would run the business, together with Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg.[207]

Trump retained his financial stake in the business.[208] His attorney Sherri Dillon said that before the January 20 inauguration, Trump would put those business assets into a trust, which would hire an ethics advisor and a compliance counsel. She added that The Trump Organization would not enter any new foreign business deals, while continuing to pursue domestic opportunities.[209] As of April 2017, Trump companies owned more than 400 condo units and home lots in the United States, valued at over $250 million in total ($200,000 to $35 million each).[210]

Media career

The Apprentice

In 2003, Trump became the executive producer and host of the NBC reality showThe Apprentice, in which a group of competitors battled for a high-level management job in one of Trump's commercial enterprises. Contestants were successively "fired" and eliminated from the game. For the first year of the show, Trump earned $50,000 per episode (roughly $700,000 for the first season), but following the show's initial success, he was paid $1 million per episode.[211] In a July 2015 press release, Trump's campaign manager said that NBCUniversal had paid him $213,606,575 for his 14 seasons hosting the show,[74] although the network did not verify the statement.[212] In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to television on The Apprentice.[160][213]

Along with British TV producer Mark Burnett, Trump was hired as host of The Celebrity Apprentice, in which celebrities compete to win money for their charities. While Trump and Burnett co-produced the show, Trump stayed in the forefront, deciding winners and "firing" losers. International versions of The Apprentice franchise were co-produced by Burnett and Trump.

On February 16, 2015, NBC announced that they would be renewing The Apprentice for a 15th season.[214] On February 27, Trump stated that he was "not ready" to sign on for another season because of the possibility of a presidential run.[215] Despite this, on March 18, NBC announced they were going ahead with production.[216] On June 29, after widespread negative reaction stemming from Trump's campaign announcement speech, NBC released a statement saying, "Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump."[217]

After Trump's election campaign and presidential win led to his departure from the program, actor and former California GovernorArnold Schwarzenegger replaced Trump as host for the fifteenth season.[218] Trump is still credited as an executive producer for the show.[219]

Trump appeared at WrestleMania 23 in a match called "The Battle of the Billionaires".[220] He was in Bobby Lashley's corner, while Vince McMahon was in the corner of Lashley's opponent Umaga, with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special guest referee.[220] The terms of the match were that either Trump or McMahon would have their head shaved if their competitor lost.[220] Lashley won the match, and so McMahon was shaved bald.[220]

On June 15, 2009, McMahon announced as part of a storyline on Monday Night Raw that he had "sold" the show to Trump.[220] Appearing on screen, Trump declared that he would be at the following commercial-free episode in person and would give a full refund to the people who purchased tickets to the arena for that night's show.[220] McMahon "bought back" Raw the following week for twice the price.[220]

Political career up to 2015

Early involvement in politics

Trump's December 1987 advertisement in The Boston Globe, criticizing U.S. defense policy

Trump first vaguely expressed interest in running for office in 1987, when he spent almost $100,000 to place full-page advertisements in several newspapers. In his view at that time, "America should stop paying to defend countries that can afford to defend themselves",[234] and "should present Western Europe and Japan with a bill for America's efforts to safeguard the passage of oil tankers in the Persian Gulf."[235] As of December 1988, Trump was the tenth most admired person in America according to a Gallup poll.[236][237]

Trump publicly speculated about seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, and a Wall Street Journal / NBC News poll released in March 2011 found Trump leading among potential contenders; he was one point ahead of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.[241] A Newsweek poll conducted in February 2011 showed Trump within a few points of incumbent president Barack Obama, with many voters undecided in the November 2012 general election for president of the United States.[242] A poll released in April 2011 by Public Policy Polling showed Trump having a nine-point lead in a potential contest for the Republican nomination for president while he was still actively considering a run.[243][244] His moves were interpreted by some media as possible promotional tools for his reality show The Apprentice.[245][246][247]

Trump played a leading role in "birther" conspiracy theories that had been circulating since President Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.[248][249] Beginning in March 2011, Trump publicly questioned Obama's citizenship and eligibility to serve as President.[250][251][252] Although the Obama campaign had released a copy of the short-form birth certificate in 2008,[253] Trump demanded to see the original "long-form" certificate.[250] He mentioned having sent investigators to Hawaii to research the question, but he did not follow up with any findings.[250] He also repeated a debunked allegation that Obama's grandmother said she had witnessed his birth in Kenya.[254][255] When the White House later released Obama's long-form birth certificate,[256] Trump took credit for obtaining the document, saying "I hope it checks out."[257] His official biography mentions his purported role in forcing Obama's hand,[258] and he has defended his pursuit of the issue when prompted, later saying that his promotion of the conspiracy made him "very popular".[259] In 2011, Trump had called for Obama to release his student records, questioning whether his grades warranted entry into an Ivy League school.[260] When asked in 2015 whether he believed Obama was born in the United States, Trump said he did not want to discuss the matter further.[261][262] In September 2016, Trump publicly acknowledged that Obama was born in the U.S., and said that the rumors had been started by Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign.[251][263][264]

In the 2012 Republican primaries, Trump generally had polled at or below 17 percent among the crowded field of possible candidates.[267] On May 16, 2011, Trump announced he would not run for president in the 2012 election, while also saying he would have become the President of the United States, had he run.[245]

In 2013, Trump was a featured speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).[268] During the lightly attended early-morning speech, Trump spoke out against illegal immigration, then-President Obama's "unprecedented media protection", and advised against harming Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.[269][270]

Additionally, Trump spent over $1 million in 2013 to research a possible run for president of the United States.[271] In October 2013, New York Republicans circulated a memo suggesting Trump should run for governor of the state in 2014 against Andrew Cuomo. In response to the memo, Trump said that while New York had problems and that its taxes were too high, running for governor was not of great interest to him.[272] In January 2014, Trump made statements denying climate change that were discordant with the opinion of the scientific community.[273] A February 2014 Quinnipiac poll had shown Trump losing to the more popular Cuomo by 37 points in a hypothetical election.[274] In February 2015, Trump told NBC that he was not prepared to sign on for another season of The Apprentice, as he mulled his political future.[275]

Political affiliations

Trump meets with President Ronald Reagan at a 1987 White House reception, 30 years before taking office

Trump's political party affiliation has changed numerous times over the years. Trump was a Democrat prior to 1987.[276] In 1987, Trump registered as a Republican in Manhattan.[277]

From 2001 to 2008, Trump identified as a Democrat, but in 2008, he endorsed Republican John McCain for President. In 2009, he officially changed his party registration to Republican.[279] In December 2011, Trump became an independent for five months before returning to the Republican Party, where he later pledged to stay.[280][281]

Trump has made contributions to campaigns of both Republican Party and Democratic Party candidates, with the top ten recipients of his political contributions being six Democrats and four Republicans.[282] After 2011, his campaign contributions were more favorable to Republicans than to Democrats.[283] In February 2012, Trump openly endorsed Republican Mitt Romney for President.[284] When asked in 2015 which recent president he prefers, Trump picked Democrat Bill Clinton over the Republican Bushes.[285][286]

According to a New York state report, Trump circumvented corporate and personal campaign donation limits in the 1980s—although no laws were broken—by donating money to candidates from 18 different business subsidiaries, rather than donating primarily in his own name.[287][288] Trump told investigators he did so on the advice of his lawyers. He also said the contributions were not to gain favor with business-friendly candidates, but simply to satisfy requests from friends.[287][289]

2000 presidential campaign

In 1999, Trump filed an exploratory committee to seek the presidential nomination of the Reform Party in 2000.[278][290] A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.[291] Trump eventually dropped out of the race due to party infighting, but still won the party's California and Michigan primaries.[292][293][294]

In his campaign, Trump said that he disdained political correctness; he also stated that the media had intentionally misinterpreted his words, and he made other claims of adverse media bias.[296][297][298] In part due to his fame, Trump received an unprecedented amount of free media coverage during his run for the presidency, which elevated his standing in the Republican primaries.[299]

Republican leaders such as House SpeakerPaul Ryan were hesitant to support him during his early quest for the presidency. They doubted his chances of winning the general election and feared that he could harm the image of the Republican Party.[300][301]

During the campaign, Trump was accused of pandering to white nationalists,[306] especially in his initial refusal to condemn the support of David Duke, a former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, in a CNN interview with Jake Tapper. He had previously criticized Duke in 1991, disavowed the 2000 Reform Party due to the support of Duke and others, and disavowed Duke on the campaign trail both before and after the interview.[307] In August, he appointed Steve Bannon—the executive chairman of Breitbart News—as his campaign CEO; the website was described by Bannon as "the platform for the alt-right."[308] However, Bannon later told the Wall Street Journal that he was an "economic nationalist" but not "a supporter of ethno-nationalism."[309]

Some rallies during the primary season were accompanied by protests or violence, including attacks on Trump supporters and vice-versa both inside and outside the venues.[310][311][312]

Campaign rhetoric

Fact-checking organizations have denounced Trump for making a record number of false statements compared to other candidates.[313][314][315] At least four major publications – Politico, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times – have pointed out lies or falsehoods in his campaign statements.[316]NPR said that Trump's campaign statements were often opaque or suggestive.[317] Lucas Graves, an assistant professor of journalism and mass communication at the University of Wisconsin–Madison,[318] opined that Trump "often speaks in a suggestive way that makes it unclear what exactly he meant, so that fact-checkers "have to be really careful" when picking claims to check, "to pick things that reflect what the speaker was clearly trying to communicate."[319]

Trump's penchant for hyperbole is believed to have roots in the New York real estate scene, where Trump established his wealth and where puffery abounds.[320] Trump has called his public speaking style "truthful hyperbole", an effective political tactic which may however backfire for overpromising.[320] Martin Medhurst, a Baylor University professor of communication and political science, analyzed Trump's frequently used rhetorical devices, such as catchy slogans, hyperbole, insinuations and preterition.[321]

Financial disclosures

As required of all presidential candidates by FEC regulations, Trump published a 92-page financial disclosure form that listed all his assets, liabilities, income sources and hundreds of business positions,[73] but he declined to release his tax returns,[322] contrary to usual practice by every presidential candidate since Gerald Ford in 1976.[323] Trump's refusal led to speculation that he was hiding something,[324] although there is no law that requires presidential candidates to release their returns.[325]

Trump explained that his tax returns are being audited and his lawyers advise against releasing them.[326][327] However, no law prohibits release of tax returns during an audit.[328] Tax attorneys differ about whether such a release is wise legal strategy.[329] Trump has told the news media that his tax rate was "none of your business", but added, "I fight very hard to pay as little tax as possible."[330][331][332]

On October 1, 2016, three pages of Trump's 1995 tax return were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times, who said she received the documents in her Times mailbox. Each of the three pages is one page from Trump's state filings in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. They show that using allowed deductions for losses, Trump claimed a loss of $916 million that year. During the second presidential debate, Trump acknowledged using the deduction, but declined to provide details such as the specific years it was applied.[333] When asked if he used the tax code to avoid paying taxes, he said, "Of course I did. Of course I did." He then went on to say he paid "hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes", calling it a "simple" thing. "I pay tax, and I pay federal tax, too", he said.[334][335][336]

On March 14, 2017, the first two pages of Trump's 2005 federal income tax returns were leaked to MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, who unveiled them on her show. The two pages showed that Trump paid $38 million in federal taxes and had a gross adjusted income of $150 million.[337][338] The White House confirmed the authenticity of the 2005 documents and stated: "Despite this substantial income figure and tax paid, it is totally illegal to steal and publish tax returns."[337][338]

Republican primaries

Trump entered a field of 16 candidates who were vying for the 2016 Republican nomination; this was the largest presidential field in American history.[339] Trump participated in eleven of the twelve Republican debates, skipping only the seventh debate on January 28 (that was the last debate before primary voting began on February 1). The debates received historically high television ratings, which increased the visibility of Trump's campaign.[340]

By early 2016, the race had mostly centered on Trump and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz.[341] On Super Tuesday, Trump won the plurality of the vote and remained the front-runner throughout the remainder of the primaries. By March 2016, Trump became poised to win the Republican nomination.[342] After a landslide win in Indiana on May 3, 2016, which prompted the remaining candidates Ted Cruz and John Kasich to suspend their presidential campaigns, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus declared Trump the presumptive Republican nominee.[343] With nearly 14 million votes, Trump broke the all-time record for winning the most primary votes in the history of the Republican Party. He also set the record for the largest number of votes against the front runner.[344]

General election campaign

After becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump's focus shifted to the general election, urging remaining primary voters to "save [their] vote for the general election."[345] Trump began campaigning against Hillary Clinton, who became the presumptive Democratic nominee on June 6, 2016, and continued to campaign across the country.

Clinton had established a significant lead in national polls over Trump throughout most of 2016. In early July, Clinton's lead narrowed in national polling averages following the FBI's re-opening of its investigation into her ongoing email controversy.[346][347][348]

On July 15, 2016, Trump announced his selection of IndianaGovernorMike Pence as his running mate.[349] Trump and Pence were officially nominated by the Republican Party on July 19, 2016, at the Republican National Convention.[350] The list of convention speakers and attendees included former presidential nominee Bob Dole, but the other prior nominees did not attend.[351][352]

Two days later, Trump officially accepted the nomination in a 76-minute speech inspired by Richard Nixon's 1968 acceptance speech.[353] The historically long speech was watched by nearly 35 million people and received mixed reviews, with net negative viewer reactions according to CNN and Gallup polls.[354][355][356]

Media have described Trump's political positions as "populist",[361][362] and some of his views cross party lines. For example, his economic campaign plan calls for large reductions in income taxes and deregulation,[363] consistent with Republican Party policies, along with significant infrastructure investment,[364] usually considered a liberal (Democratic Party) policy.[365][366] According to political writer Jack Shafer, Trump may be a "fairly conventional American populist when it comes to his policy views", but he attracts free media attention, sometimes by making outrageous comments.[367][368]

Trump has supported or leaned toward varying political positions over time.[369][370][371]Politico has described his positions as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory",[371] while NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign.[372]

Russian interference claims

In January 2017, American intelligence agencies – the CIA, FBI and NSA, represented by the Director of National Intelligence – stated that the former two agencies assessed with "high confidence" (the NSA expressed "moderate confidence") that the Russian government attempted to intervene in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump.[373] In testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8, former FBI Director James Comey affirmed he has "no doubt" that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, adding "they did it with purpose and sophistication".[374][375] Information released to the public by these intelligence agencies provided little detail of the scope or effectiveness of the alleged interference, beyond repeated reassurances that neither vote tallies nor the election outcome were affected.

On February 16, 2018, Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russian nationals and 3 companies for improprieties including allegedly purchasing approximately $100,000 in online advertisments (most of which ran after the 2016 election) without registering with the Federal Election Commission. In July 2018, he indicted an additional 12 Russian nationals on allegations of having hacked computers and servers belonging to the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Convention. Media reports indicate these indictments are largely symbolic, as the accused parties live in Russia and are unlikely to be extradited.

Throughout 2017 and 2018, Trump has repeatedly stated that accusations of collusion between his presidential campaign and the Russian government constitute a false narrative advanced by his political enemies, including regular tweets characterizing such claims as the "single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!"[376]. Investigations by the House Select Committee on Intelligence and the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General have also cast doubt on the legitimacy of the collusion accusations, including evidence of collaboration between the Clinton campaign, former MI6 officer Christopher Steele, intelligence firm Fusion GPS, law firm Perkins Coie, former FBI Director James Comey, FBI counterintelligence officer Peter Strzok, and others to manufacture evidence of a connection between Trump and Russia that could be exploited for partisan political ends. Russian president Vladimir Putin has also denied all allegations of election interference, saying that Democrats cling to this fictitious explanation to avoid confronting their election loss.[377].

Interactions with Russia

There has been intensive media scrutiny of Trump's relationship to Russia.[378][379] During the campaign, Trump repeatedly praised Russian president Vladimir Putin as a strong leader.[380][381] One of his campaign managers, Paul Manafort, had worked for several years to help pro-Russian politician Viktor Yanukovich win the Ukrainian presidency.[382] Other Trump associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael T. Flynn and political consultant Roger Stone, have been connected to Russian officials.[383][384] Russian agents were overheard during the campaign saying they could use Manafort and Flynn to influence Trump.[385]

Members of Trump's campaign and later his White House staff, particularly Flynn, were in contact with Russian officials both before and after the November election.[386] In a December 29, 2016 conversation, Flynn and Kislyak discussed the recently imposed sanctions against Russia; Trump later fired Flynn for falsely claiming he had not discussed the sanctions.[387]

In March 2017, FBI DirectorJames Comey told Congress that "the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”[388]

In 2017, Trump and other senior White House officials asked the Director of National Intelligence, the NSA director, the FBI director, and two chairs of congressional committees to publicly dispute the news reports about contacts between Trump associates and Russia.[389]

Sexual misconduct allegations

Two days before the second presidential debate, a 2005 recording surfaced that the media described as "vulgar" and "sexist". The incident prompted him to make his first public apology during the campaign,[390][391] and caused outrage across the political spectrum,[392][393] with many Republicans withdrawing their endorsements of his candidacy and some urging him to quit the race.[394] Subsequently, at least 15 women[395] came forward with new accusations of sexual misconduct, including unwanted kissing and groping, resulting in widespread media coverage.[396][397]

Trump and his campaign have denied all of the sexual misconduct accusations, which Trump has called "false smears", and alleged a conspiracy against him.[398][399][400] In his two public statements in response to the controversy, Trump responded by alleging that Bill Clinton, former President of the United States and husband of Trump's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, had "abused women" and that Hillary had bullied her husband's victims.[401]

Election to the presidency

On Election Day, November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 electoral votes to Clinton's 232 votes. The counts were later adjusted to 304 and 227 respectively, after defections on both sides, formalizing Trump's election to the presidency.[402] In the early hours of November 9, Clinton called Trump to concede the election. Trump then delivered his victory speech before hundreds of supporters in the New York Hilton hotel. The speech was in contrast with some of his previous rhetoric, with Trump promising to heal the division caused by the election, thanking Clinton for her service to the country, and promising to be a president to all Americans.[403][404]

Trump's victory was considered a stunning political upset, as polls consistently showed Hillary Clinton leading nationwide (where she did win) and in most battleground states, while Trump's support had been underestimated throughout his campaign.[410] The errors in some state polls were later partially attributed to pollsters overestimating Clinton's support among well-educated and nonwhite voters, while underestimating Trump's support among white working-class voters.[411] Trump won the perennial swing states of Florida, Iowa and Ohio, and flipped Clinton's "blue wall" states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which had been Democratic strongholds since the 1990s. Trump's victory marked the return of a Republican White House combined with control of both chambers of Congress, as was the case during parts of George W. Bush's presidency from 2003 to 2007.

Protests

Trump's victory sparked protests across the United States. Trump opponents took to the streets to amplify their opposition to Trump's views and denounce his inflammatory statements. Some argued that Clinton's popular vote victory meant Trump was not the democratically elected president and should be considered illegitimate.[417] Trump initially said on Twitter that the protests consisted of "professional protesters, incited by the media", and were "unfair", but he later stated that he loves their passion for the country.[418][419] In contrast, after Obama's re-election in 2012, Trump had tweeted "We can't let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!"[420]

On the Saturday following Trump's inauguration there were massive demonstrations protesting Trump in the United States and worldwide, with approximately 2,600,000 taking part in Women's Marches worldwide.[421] The most notable of these marches was the Women's March on Washington (in Washington, D.C.), where over 500,000 people marched in opposition to Trump.[422] This was more than three times the number of people who were at Trump's inaugural speech, according to crowd scientists at the Manchester Metropolitan University.[423]

Presidency

Transition

President Obama and President-elect Trump meet in the Oval Office on November 10, 2016, two days after the election.

On November 10, President-elect Trump had his first ever meeting with President Obama to discuss plans for a peaceful transition of power. The New York Times stated that "It was an extraordinary show of cordiality and respect between two men who have been political enemies and are stylistic opposites."[424] The BBC stated that "their antipathy was barely concealed" in "awkward photos" of the meeting.[425]

Immigration orders

On January 27, President Trump signed an executive order that suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns about terrorism. The following day, thousands of protesters gathered at airports and other locations throughout the United States to protest the signing of the order and detainment of the foreign nationals.[454] Later, the administration seemed to reverse a portion of part of the order, effectively exempting visitors with a green card.[455][456] Two Iraqi nationals detained upon arrival filed a complaint.[457] Several federal judges issued rulings that curtailed parts of the immigration order, stopping the federal government from deporting visitors already affected.[456]

On March 6, 2017, Trump issued a revised executive order, that, among other differences with the original order, excluded Iraq, visa-holders, and permanent residents from the temporary suspension and did not differentiate Syrian refugees from refugees from other countries.[458]

According to a Comey memo of a private conversation on February 14, 2017, Trump said he "hoped" Comey would drop the investigation into Michael Flynn,[463] who had been forced to resign as National Security Advisor after it was discovered that he had misled the Vice President about communications with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

In March and April, Trump had told Comey that the ongoing suspicions formed a "cloud" impairing his presidency,[464] and asked him to tell the public that he was not personally under investigation.[465] He also asked DNIDan Coats and NSA DirectorMichael S. Rogers to issue statements saying there was no evidence that his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election.[466] Both refused, considering this an inappropriate request, although not illegal.[467] Comey eventually testified on June 8 that while he was director, the FBI investigations did not target Trump himself.[464][468]The Washington Post later reported that within days of Comey's dismissal, the FBI started investigating whether Trump had obstructed justice.[469] Trump's lawyer Jay Sekulow stated that he had not been notified of any such investigation.[470]ABC News later reported that the special counsel is gathering preliminary information about possible obstruction of justice, but a full-scale investigation has not yet been launched.[471]

Domestic policy

Energy

Trump's energy policy advocates domestic industrial support for both fossil and renewable energy sources in order to curb reliance on Middle-Eastern oil and possibly turn the U.S. into a net energy exporter.[472]His appointed advisers favor a less regulated energy market and, because they do not consider climate change a threat, see no need for immediate action.[473]

Following the November 2015 Paris attacks, Trump made a controversial proposal to completely ban Muslim non-citizens from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented.[489][490][491] Later in 2016 he stated that the ban would apply only to people originating from countries with a "proven history of terrorism against the United States or its allies", or countries "compromised by terrorism".[492][493][494]

In late January 2017, Trump issued an executive order banning the admission of immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries.[495] The order was imposed without warning and took effect immediately;[496] the measure caused chaos at many airports, with consecutive days of mass protest afflicting major airports in the United States.[497] Multiple legal challenges were filed against the order, and a federal court blocked its implementation.[496] In early March 2017, Trump issued a revised order into law, which excluded Iraq, gave specific exemptions for permanent residents, no priorities for religious minorities (e.g. Christian refugees) and a week was given to implement legislation.[458][496]

On September 24, 2017, the temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645, which permanently restricts travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and bans travelers from North Korea and Chad, and certain Venezuelan officials. On October 17, a federal judge in Hawaii blocked the new restrictions, except for North Korea and Venezuela. On December 4, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect. On January 19, 2018 the Supreme Court announced that it would hear a challenge to the travel ban, and on June 26, 2018, affirmed the constitutionality of the ban, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing that it was “squarely within the scope of presidential authority”.

However, Trump has repeatedly vowed to repeal and replace Obamacare.[512][513] In March 2016, Trump's campaign released a platform summary which included a variety of free-market health reforms including provisions to allow health insurance to be sold across state lines, enable individuals to deduct health insurance premiums, expand health savings accounts, and give more control of Medicaid to the states.[514][515]

The tax reform Trump signed into law at the end of his first year in office effectively repealed the individual health insurance mandate that was a major element of the Obamacare health insurance system; this repeal is scheduled to be implemented in 2019.

Trump has generally not supported deregulating health care, the health care training and regulation infrastructure, or the vast network of regulations covering health insurance; to allow freer competition between providers and insurers. Health care costs and complexity continued to increase.

Economy and trade

Trump's campaign tax plan called for levelling the corporate tax rate to 15%, eliminating various business loopholes and deductions,[363] and reducing the number of brackets for personal income tax: the top rate would be reduced from 39.6% to 25%, a large "zero bracket" would be created, and the alternative minimum tax and estate tax (which currently applies to individual estates over $5.45 million or $10.9 million per married couple) would both be eliminated.[522] He has supported eliminating the federal minimum wage but backed off.[523][524][525]

In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut the corporate tax rate to 21%, lowered personal tax brackets, increased child tax credit, doubled the estate tax threshold to $11.2 million, and limited the state and local tax deduction to $10,000. Those with higher incomes would see the most benefit. The bill was claimed to increase deficits by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years.

Government size and deregulation

Trump's early policies have favored deregulation and a smaller federal government. He became the first president in sixteen years to sign a Congressional Review Act disapproval resolution; the law had been used only once before.[539] During his first six weeks in office, he abolished ninety federal regulations.[540][541]

A week later Trump signed Executive Order 13771, directing administrative agencies to repeal two existing regulations for every new regulation they issue.[545][546]Harvard Law professor Jody Freeman said that the order would do no more than slow the regulatory process, because it did not block rules required by statute.[547]

On February 24, 2017, Trump ordered the agencies to create task forces to determine which regulations are deemed burdensome to the U.S. economy.[548] Agency defenders expressed opposition to Trump's criticisms, saying that the bureaucracy exists to protect people against well-organized, well-funded interest groups.[549]

Election tampering allegations

In early 2018, evidence emerged that members of federal agencies, including the FBI, had conspired during the presidential campaign to use law-enforcement resources to investigate Donald Trump, in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to gather politically embarrassing data that could be used to sabotage his campaign.[550]

Foreign policy

President Trump together with other leaders at the 43rd G7 summit in Italy, May 2017

Trump has been described as non-interventionist[551][552] and nationalist.[553] He repeatedly stated that he supports "America First" foreign policy.[554] He supports increasing United States military defense spending,[553] but favors decreasing United States spending on NATO and in the Pacific region.[555] He says America should look inward, stop "nation building", and re-orient its resources toward domestic needs.[552] As a candidate he questioned whether he, as president, would automatically extend security guarantees to NATO members,[556] and suggested that he might leave NATO unless changes are made to the alliance.[557] But as president he has re-affirmed the U.S. commitment to NATO.[558]

In order to confront the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Trump in 2015 called for seizing the oil in ISIS-occupied areas, using U.S. air power and ground troops.[559] In 2016, Trump advocated sending 20,000 to 30,000 U.S. troops to the region,[560][561] a position he later retracted.[562] Regarding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Trump has stated the importance of being a neutral party during potential negotiations, while also having stated that he is "a big fan of Israel".[563] During the campaign he said he would relocate the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from its current location, Tel Aviv, although he has not pursued that proposal as president.[564] On May 22, 2017, Trump was the first U.S. president to visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem, during his first foreign trip, visiting Israel, Italy, the Vatican, and Belgium.[565]

The first year of Trump's presidency was marked by a general absence of major news stories or other significant developments, though there were numerous claims and investigations of alleged Russian attempts to influence the 2016 Presidential election, in which both candidates were accused of collusion. Relations with Russia did not change much during Trump's first year in office.

Trump cancelled Obama administration deals with Cuba,[571] while expressing hope that a new deal could be negotiated. On November 8, 2017, the Trump administration tightened the rules on trade with Cuba "to steer economic activities away from the Cuban military, intelligence and security services".

Trump increased US troop levels in Afghanistan to pressure the Taliban.[572]

North Korea's ongoing efforts to develop ICBMs capable of delivering nuclear weapons to the USA led to numerous verbal and written condemnations, and ominous but vague threats issued by the North Korean government-controlled media and Trump. North Korea conducted its largest underground nuclear test[573] and test-launched several large ICBMs (that might be able to reach North America) into the ocean. There was no evidence of an upcoming attack however, and it was suggested the USA might have to learn to live with a nuclear-armed North Korea capable of killing millions of American civilians.

Trump recognized Jerusalem as the official capital of Israel on December 6, 2017, despite worldwide criticism and warnings from Muslims and more liberal world leaders. Trump said the USA would establish a new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.

In January 2018, Trump expressed resistance against the increasing levels of immigration from the poorest and least developed Third World countries into the USA, for which he was widely condemned by left-wing political figures worldwide, but generally praised by his supporters.

On June 12, 2018, after months of staff-level preliminary meetings, Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un held a bilateral summit in Singapore. In a joint declaration, both countries vowed to "join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula", while North Korea repeated its April 2018 promise to "work towards the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." The long-term outcome of the meeting remained in doubt.

Trump and Putin met in a 2018 Russia–United States summit in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. Trump drew harsh Democratic and progressive conservative criticism in the USA for appearing to side with Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the position of the United States intelligence community. His comments were strongly criticized by bipartisan-friendly Republicans and media commentators.

2020 presidential campaign

Trump signaled his intention to run for a second term by filing with the FEC within hours of assuming the presidency.[574][575] This transformed his 2016 election committee into a 2020 reelection one.[576] Trump marked the official start of the campaign with a campaign rally in Melbourne, Florida, on February 18, 2017, less than a month after taking office.[577] By February 1, 2017, the campaign had already raised over $7 million.[578]

State orders and awards

See also

Notes

↑The number "five" includes the elections of 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016. Despite their similarities, some of these five elections had peculiar results; e.g. John Quincy Adams trailed in both the national popular vote and the electoral college in 1824 (since no-one had a majority in the electoral college, Adams was chosen by the House of Representatives), and Samuel Tilden in 1876 remains the only losing candidate to win an actual majority of the popular vote (rather than just a plurality).[406][407]

↑Goldman, Russell (April 29, 2011). "Donald Trump's Own Secret: Vietnam Draft Records". ABC News. Retrieved August 1, 2016. Nor do the documents categorically suggest it was deferments and not a high draft number that ultimately allowed him to avoid the draft.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers at line 47: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).

↑Brenner, Marie (September 1990). "After The Gold Rush". Vanity Fair. Retrieved January 10, 2016.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles> "They were married in New York during Easter of 1977. Mayor Beame attended the wedding at Marble Collegiate Church. Donald had already made his alliance with Roy Cohn, who would become his lawyer and mentor.

↑Mattera, Jason (March 14, 2011). "Trump Unplugged". Human Events. Retrieved March 16, 2011. I am a Protestant. I am a Presbyterian within the Protestant group and I go to Church as much as I can.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑"Part 2: Donald Trump on 'Watters' World'". Watters' World. Fox News Channel. February 6, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2016. WATTERS: "Have you ever smoked weed?" TRUMP: "No, I have not. I have not. I would tell you 100 percent because everyone else seems to admit it nowadays, so I would actually tell you. This is almost like, it's almost like 'Hey, it's a sign'. No, I have never. I have never smoked a cigarette, either."<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑Cassidy, John (May 17, 2016). "Just How Rich Is Donald Trump?". The New Yorker. [He] has stated that he is worth more than ten billion dollars ... Forbes concluded [in 2015] that Trump was worth about $4.5 billion, while Bloomberg estimated $2.9 billion. The Forbes figure was high enough to put Trump in a tie at No. 324 on the magazine's global ranking of billionaires ... The gap between Forbes's $4.5 billion figure and Bloomberg's $2.9 billion figure is largely attributable to differences in how the two publications appraised individual properties.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑Dunlap, David (July 30, 2015). "1973: Meet Donald Trump". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 31, 2015. Trump Management ... was also to allow the league to present qualified applicants for every fifth vacancy ... Trump himself said he was satisfied that the agreement did not 'compel the Trump Organization to accept persons on welfare as tenants unless as qualified as any other tenant.'<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑Viegas, Jen. "Trump Dissolves Environmental Oversight Group at His Scottish Golf Course", Seeker (January 23, 2017): "Trump executive Sorial, fired back: 'To date we are the only ones that have studied, preserved and actively managed that site, threatened by years of shooting birds, erosion and ongoing urban pressure. The dunes have now been preserved for generations to enjoy with 95% of the SSSI untouched.'"

↑Penzenstadler, Nick; Page, Susan (June 2, 2016). "Exclusive: Trump's 3,500 lawsuits unprecedented for a presidential nominee". USA Today. Retrieved June 2, 2016. About 100 additional disputes centered on other issues at the casinos. Trump and his enterprises have been named in almost 700 personal-injury claims and about 165 court disputes with government agencies ... Due to his branding value, Trump is determined to defend his name and reputation.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑"From the Tower to the White House". The Economist. February 20, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2016. Mr Trump's performance has been mediocre compared with the stockmarket and property in New York.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑ 203.0203.1Bradner, Eric; Frehse, Rob (September 14, 2016). "NY attorney general is investigating Trump Foundation practices". CNN. Retrieved September 25, 2016. The Post had reported that the recipients of five charitable contributions listed by the Trump Foundation had no record of receiving those donations. But the newspaper updated its report after CNN questioned the accuracy of three of the five donations it had cited.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑Koffler, Jacob (August 7, 2015). "Donald Trump's 16 Biggest Business Failures and Successes". Time. The Apprentice premiered on NBC in 2004 to great ratings. Trump served as not only the host but also the executive producer, raking in $1 million per episode. The show was successful enough that it inspired a spinoff, The Celebrity Apprentice.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑"Donald J. Trump – Biography". The Trump Organization. Retrieved August 27, 2016. In 2011, after failed attempts by both Senator McCain and Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump single handedly forced President Obama to release his birth certificate, which was lauded by large segments of the political community.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑"Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees: Transcript". CNN. July 9, 2015. I really don't know. I mean, I don't know why he wouldn't release his records. But you know, honestly, I don't want to get into it.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑Cunion, William. "White Knights to the Rescue! The Non-Candidates of 2012" in The 2012 Nomination and the Future of the Republican Party, pp. 47–48 (William J. Miller, ed., 2013). Cunion writes that Trump never got above 17 percent in polls against the rest of the Republican field, but at least one exception was a PPP poll in April 2011 that put him at 26%. See Jensen, Tom. "Trump collapses", Public Policy Polling Blog (May 10, 2011).

↑Walsh, Kenneth T. (August 15, 2016). "Trump: Media Is 'Dishonest and Corrupt'". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on September 1, 2016. 'If the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn't put false meaning into the words I say, I would be beating Hillary by 20 percent,' Trump also tweeted Sunday.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑Koppel, Ted (July 24, 2016). "Trump: "I feel I'm an honest person"". CBS News. 'Well, I think that I'm an honest person,' Trump said. 'I feel I'm an honest person. And I don't mind being criticized at all by the media, but I do wanna – you know, I do want them to be straight about it.'<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑ 320.0320.1Flitter, Emily; Oliphant, James (August 28, 2015). "Best president ever! How Trump's love of hyperbole could backfire". Reuters. Trump's penchant for exaggeration could backfire – he risks promising voters more than he can deliver ... Optimistic exaggeration ... is a hallmark of the cutthroat New York real estate world where many developers, accustomed to ramming their way into deals, puff up their portfolios. 'A little hyperbole never hurts,' he wrote ... For Trump, exaggerating has always been a frequent impulse, especially when the value of his Trump brand is disputed.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑"Intelligence Report on Russian Hacking". The New York Times. January 6, 2017. p. 11. Retrieved January 8, 2017. We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump. We have high confidence in these judgments.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

SEN. MARTIN HEINRICH (D-NM): The president has repeatedly talked about ... Russia's involvement in the U.S. election cycle as "a hoax" and as "fake news." ...

JAMES COMEY: Yes, sir. There should be no fuzz on this whatsoever. The Russians interfered in our election during the 2016 cycle. They did it with purpose. They did it with sophistication. They did it with overwhelming technical efforts. And it was an active measures campaign driven from the top of that government. There is no fuzz on that. It is a high-confidence judgment of the entire intelligence community, and the members of this committee have seen the intelligence. It's not a close call. That happened. That's about as unfake as you can possibly get and is very, very serious, which is why it's so refreshing to see a bipartisan focus on that because this is about America, not about any particular party.

HEINRICH: So that was a hostile act by the Russian government against this country?

↑Thomas, Pierre (June 19, 2017). "Where Things Stand with Special Counsel Mueller's Russia Probe". ABC News. According to sources familiar with the process ... [a]n assessment of evidence and circumstances will be completed before a final decision is made to launch an investigation of the president of the United States regarding potential obstruction of justice.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑"Second Amendment Rights". Donald J. Trump for President. Archived from the original on January 7, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2017. There has been a national background check system in place since 1998 ... Too many states are failing to put criminal and mental health records into the system ... What we need to do is fix the system we have and make it work as intended.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑ 544.0544.1Yoder, Eric (February 16, 2017). "Hiring freeze could add to government's risk, GAO chief warns". The Washington Post. 'We've looked at hiring freezes in the past by prior administrations and they haven't proven to be effective in reducing costs and they cause some problems if they're in effect for a long period of time,' Comptroller General Gene Dodaro told a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑Plumer, Brad (January 30, 2017). "Trump wants to kill two old regulations for every new one issued. Sort of". Vox Media. Retrieved March 10, 2017. 'It is primarily an instrument for ... slowing the regulatory process,' says Freeman ... Trump's order does include a caveat that agencies can only act 'to the extent permitted by law'. 'So, in the end, this order may not block rules that are legally required by statute,' explains Freeman.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑Shepardson, David; Holland, Steve (February 24, 2017). "In Sweeping Move, Trump Puts Regulation Monitors in U.S. Agencies". Reuters. Retrieved March 6, 2017. Trump signed an executive order on Friday to place 'regulatory reform' task forces and officers within federal agencies in what may be the most far reaching effort to pare back U.S. red tape in recent decades.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

↑Calabresi, Massimo (March 9, 2017). "Inside Donald Trump's War against the State". Time. Staffed by experts who oversee an open governmental process, they say, the federal bureaucracy exists to protect those who would otherwise be at the mercy of better-organized, better-funded interests.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>